Parked Waymo vehicles are recording Nashville neighborhoods, churches, businesses and parks every day without any public guidelines on how long footage is stored, and minimal details on how it is used. Since the company fully launched in Nashville in June, more than 50 white, driverless Jaguars with out-of-state plates and large, spinning sensors shaped like top hats on their roofs have been carting people around Nashville, saturating downtown hotspots like the riverfront, Lower Broadway and Music Row. The vehicles use a combination of radar and LiDAR sensors, external audio and video from both the in-car camera system and the 29 external cameras to operate and train the vehicles when they're underway. But even when they are vacant, if the vehicles are running -- which is identifiable by the sensors spinning and whirring -- they are recording audio and 360-degree video to "continuously perceive the world around the vehicle." Ethan Teicher, a spokesperson for Waymo, told the Banner last week that the constant recording is necessary for the parked vehicles to respond to, say, emergency vehicles or other hazards when parked, but the vehicles "are engineered with privacy-by-design." "The sensors remain active while the vehicle is parked to maintain awareness of its surroundings and move from that location when required," Teicher continued. Asked how long the data recorded is stored, the company said it's too costly to store large amounts of random footage or audio that doesn't directly help train the vehicles or pertain to a specific incident, involving the Waymo or otherwise. When asked, the company did not provide any specific policy on when and how idly collected data is used, but rather said retention is determined on a case-by-case basis. "Waymo retains data for a reasonably appropriate amount of time to improve our automated driving system," Teicher wrote. Waymo